Judging from his impressive list of references, Jos Goessen (Gronsveld, NL) appears to have a solid foundation

Top class pigeons, that is what it's all about for Jos Goessen. He has nothing but pigeons from the very best Gaby Vandenabeele bloodlines in his loft in Gronsveld. They appear to combine really well with the other top birds in Jos's collection. And his pigeons have been doing great in other lofts as well, as you can tell from his extensive list of references.

Jos Goessen (r) together with Gaby Vandenabeele (l)

In 2010, after winning almost every important race on the calendar, Jos Goessen decided to sell a large part of his pigeon collection on PIPA. The reason for this highly successful auction was a growing family and an upcoming move. In 2013 he made a new start, albeit with a team of only about 20 yearlings. He had a magnificent new loft, and the team really started to come along, with even better results than before the sale. Jos has won quite a few NPO victories and some other major first prizes since his new start.

Besides his excellent results at home, the Jos Goessen pigeon has also been remarkably strong in other lofts. Jos does have quite a list of references to his name. We would like to take you through some of his most notable references from recent seasons, but not before we briefly talk about the pigeons that have been getting so many great results lately. As in previous years, the Vandenabeele bloodlines continue to play a crucial role in the loft of Jos Goessen, who has always been particularly fond of these Vandenabeele pigeons; he has great confidence in them. This explains his many trips to Dentergem, to the loft of his good friend Gaby. Descendants of some of Gaby's very best bloodlines were transferred to Gronsveld, to help him make a successful new start in the wake of his sale in late 2010. The Vandenabeele bird is all he ever wanted, especially in longer races in difficult conditions. Jos wants nothing but top quality pigeons, and so he only obtains birds from Gaby's most valued bloodlines. These are then combined with pigeons from his existing breed, which is already heavily based on Vandenabeele.

Top class breeder Den Argenton

MUch of this team's success can be attributed to one pigeon: Den Argenton. He won three teletext prizes himself:

Froome and Sagan, two sons of Den Argenton, have each won a 1st NPO. The dam of Sagan and Froome is Bettini Joska, and she comes right from Gaby Vandenabeele's collection. She stems from Bettini x Joska, which makes her a grandchild of none other than James Bond! It is obvious where Sagan and Froome inherited their race winning abilities from. Sagan not only won a 1st NPO but also two 2nd prizes NPO, which puts him on the same level as such super class birds as Geeloger (Koen Minderhoud) and Harry (Jan Hooymans). Click here for the full pedigree of Sagan's full brother Froome.

Jos is always looking for top quality birds. He only obtains pigeons from the best Vandenabeele bloodlines, which are then paired to his existing breed, which consists for 100% of Vandenabeele as well. And there is more. Together with his good friend and fellow fancier Florian Hendriks he purchased the outstanding cock "King Kong" of top player Jean Hornesch from Cadier en Keer. This pigeon was good at one thing in particular: flying as hard as he could. He claimed no less than 7 provincial top 10 prizes in the province of Limburg, against an average of 15,000 pigeons - an exceptional feat. He then became the grandfather of several first prize winners, including Florian Hendriks's "The 889", 2nd Nat. Ace Pigeon One Day Long Distance 2016, and his brother "De Narbonne", 4th National & 7th International Narbonne 2017.

Top results in other lofts over the past 3 seasons (from 2015 to 2017)

John van Heel wins a 1st NPO Melun of 7,755 youngsters. The dam of this pigeon comes from Rudy Maya x Daughter Argenton. In addition, John claims a 1st Ace Pigeon SS Roerstreek with a 50% Goessen pigeon in 2016. This youngster also wins a 4th NPO Gien (2,139 p.).

Ide Hoefs wins a 1st Sens of 1,274 pigeons, a 1st Marche of 1,358 pigeons, and a 3rd Proincial Epernay of 16,470 pigeons, all with the line of Argenton x Mr. Argenton. Ide also won a 1st Ace Pigeon Olds SS Maaskant with a 50% Goessen pigeon in 2016, as well as a 1st Marche 4,413 p. with a grandchild of Sagan. In 2015, a grandchild of De Argenton wins the title of 3rd Ace Pigeon Sprint Province Limburg; he is also a direct son of Yula, which moved to China in 2010.

Willy and Falco Ebben are the proud owners of top class hen Iny, winner of 6 pure first prizes, including 3 teletext prizes. She was purchased from Ad Schaerlaeckens. The dam of Indy is a direct daughter of Den Argenton, which Jos had given to Ad. Indy is now the dam of some excellent pigeons as well; one of her youngsters has already won a teletext prize from Melun.

Jos gave his good friend Florian Hendriks a pair of eggs straight from his Den Argenton. The hen that came from this egg won a 2nd Troyes (1,800 p.) and a 10th Reims (8,000 pigeons) as a youngster in 2015. In 2017 Florian wins a 1st Rethel of 1,045 pigeons; the sire of this pigeon is a son of Sagan, and the dam is the daughter of Den Argenton that had been given to him.

In 2017 Frits Paulsen wins a 1st Wefo of 1,576 young birds, as well as a 4th and 9th Bergerac, and an 8th and 23rd NPO of 1,987 p. The sire of these pigeons is a direct son Argenton x Sophie (brother of the dam of Indy). In 2016 he wins a 1st Lorris of 1,015 p. (5th NPO 7,291 p.) with a grandchild of Argenton, as well as a 2nd Rethel of 1,024 pigeons (33rd NPO 14,297 p.), a 9th Gien (224 p.), a 4th La Souteraine (126 p.) and a 99th NPO Limoges of 1,326 pigeons. In 2015 Frits wins a 3rd Provincial Lorris with a grandchild of De Argenton.

Lou Feijen wins a 1st Marche (1,157 p.), a 1st Reims (907 p.) and a 1st La Souteraine (271 p.) in 2017, as well as a 6th NPO of 1,447 pigeons. The parents are grandchildren of Argenton and Blacky 90. In 2017 Lou wins 4 first prizes in the Entente with descendants of Jos's pigeons. Lou Feijen has a particularly gifted pigeon in his collection: a descendant of Den Argenton. He wins a 2nd, 16th, 29th and 69th NPO Province 4 in the one day long distance. A brother of this racing cock wins a 1st Lorris of 980 pigeons (and 14th of 14,638 pigeons).

(the late) Sjaak de Kooning from Zeeland has won a 4th NPO Fontenay (3,306 p.) with a daughter of Sagan in 2017. He also won a 1st Roye (1,113 p.) with a great-grandchild of Argenton. Sjaak also won a 7th Province Zeeland from Fontenay in 2015, with a grandchild of De Argenton.

John van Bragt wins a 1st and 2nd Quievrain of 920 pigeons with two brothers. The sire of these two pigeons is a son of Froome x Daughter Sagan.

The Smeets-Peeters combination claims 10 first prizes in the Entente in 2016 with pigeons from Jos's super class breeder De New Argenton.

Dhr. F. Schijnen wins a 61st National Agen (6,887 p.) and a 57th NPO Cahors (2?086 p.) in 2015 with a grandchild of Den Argenton. A hen bred from a half sister of Sagan wins a 1st Charleville (2,194 p.), a 22nd Sezanne (1,249 p.), a 21st Rethel (1,777 p.) and a 27th Marche (1,848 p.).

Jean Hornesch had a 2nd Ace Pigeon General and a 2nd Ace Pigeon One Day Long Distance Maasvallei in 2015. The sire of this cock comes straight from Jos's collection; he is a youngster of his renowned Playboy Bliksem.

Descendants of the Goessen pigeons have excelled in several one loft races as well. The 4th pigeon in the Final Belgian Masters (Rien van Oss) was a grandchild of Sagan. The 3rd prize in the final of the Algarve Golden Race (Greg Team) was won by a grandchild of King Kong. Gert Jan de Hoogh wins a 3rd Ace Pigeon Golden Race Algarve; the dam comes from Playboy Wittenbuik x Rudy Elodie. The third pigeon in the final of the Great Algarve (Dutch Team) was bred by Sergio Ferreira, and comes from a hen bred from Rudy Jr. x daughter Blikkie.

The pigeons of Jos make a difference in many lofts

The references from recent years clearly indicate that Jos's pigeon breed has plenty of potential in other lofts as well. Jos has always said that "winning prizes is one thing, but allowing other fanciers to get great results with your pigeons is what really sets your breed apart." And this pretty much sums it up. Make no mistake: Jos can really enjoy winning a top result from his own team, but he gets as much satisfaction from his pigeons doing really well in other lofts.